Bicola gentile



N. GENTILE. APPARATUS F08 HECVERING 0H. FROM SHIPS Wills AND FOB SEPARTING IT FBUM WATER AND EXTRANEOUS MATIERS. nPPucATloN mfp mms, ms.

1,317,971. Patented 001.11919.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

NICOLA GENTILE, V(11F CIVITAVECCHIA, ITALY.

APPARATUS FOB. RECOVERING OIL FROM SHIPS WELLS AND FOR SEPARATING IT FROM WATER AND EXTRANEOUS MATTERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 7, 1919.

Application filed January 29, 1919. Serial No. 273,817.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, NICOLA GENTILE, a sub'ect of the King of italy, and residing at ivitavecchia, Italy, Whose post-oilice address is Via Giordano Bruno 8, Civitavecchia, have invented certain new and useful improvements in or relating to apparatus for recovering` oil from ships Wells and for separating it from water and extraneous matters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in means for recovering oil which is generally exhausted into the sea and lost, from the Ships wells into which the water used for the cooling of the several moving members of the power plant of a. ship is run.

According to the invention an apparatus is provided for automatically drawing up the upper layers of water collected into the ships well and then raising them to separating and recuperating devices.

Further fresh water can be used for cooling 4the various members of the power plant thus facilitating the recovery of the oil, and' lubricating media with more elicient results, on account of the mixing of the oil with the water employed for cooling the several moving parts.

This is attained by shutting ofi' all communication of the ships well with the sea and by using continually the same water which thus performs a closed cycle. y

'A 'furtherobject of the invention its to economize the quantity of lubricant, so that in many cases only ofthe total quantity of the lubricant is used. lVlbIeoverftheV several parts of the machine, being cooled with :Fresh water, the incrustations due to the salt water, are greatly reduced.

In carrying out the invention the advantages obtained are many, the most important of which are that, as the communication of the wells withthe sea is prevented, the danger of oodi'ng of the engine room is greatly reduced, and 'as the same pumpsV employed to exhaust the wells are utiliiied` to operate .l

the system the necessity to install lnewinachinery is avoided which is very important in the case of smallships.

Filtering and'separating devices are also 4' provided to keep 'the water andthe oil atl the center of the ship as it Vwill be herein- 4 Aafter described.

For a better understanding of the inverntion, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which one form of application of the invention itself is diagrammatically illustrated.

In the drawings: A

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan View showing the arrangement of the several pai-ts constituting the invention, on board of a ship.

Fics. 2 and 3 are two sections the dltering apparatus.

Fig. 4 is the indicator to control the discharge and the circulation of the cooling water.

Fig. 5 shows the oat of the suction pipe for the lifting of the water.

Fig. 6 shows the tloatin device for the collecting and suction of t e upper layers of the water.

Figs. 7,8 and 9 are respectively a plan, an elevation and a cross section of the device which prevents the mixture reaching the suction ump. i

Fig. 10 i s ows the automatic recuperating*1 and separating apparatus, and

ig. 11 shows one of the valves which keep the mixture at the center of the ship.

Referring to Fig. 1 the shaft of the turbine A operates the ycentriiugal pump of the condensing plant B and is coupled with a small pump 1, which is normally used in combination with the distilling apparatus at 90 of lfor the salt water.

In case the ship is not provided with such pump Ithe aspiration necessary to the working of the. apparatus may be obtained with :any suitably arranged pump. To the pump lis coupled the suction pipe 2 which ends in a float 3 arranged in the well where the mixture of water and oil collects.

V The float (Fig. 6) comprises three watertight hollow cones 4, arranged at 120 joined together by means of a star shaped structure 5. In the center of the structure Vis mounted a cylindrical vessel 6, which,

when in normal` position, occupies with its opened e a position just below the surface of t e mixture of oil and water which formsthe upper layers of the water co1- lected within the well. y

VllVitliin the vessel 6 is laced a curved pipe 7 joined by means o a iexible connection to the suction pipe 2 of the system. Thepi e 2, well ahead ot the pump 1, passes t rough a discharging device 8 position, the valves 15 an ture reaching the pump. q

The operation of such device Is automatic ,and the device tsclfcornprisos a closed tank 9, mounted pivotally on two side bearings 10. Said tank, when empty, occupies a horizontal position. In the center' of the teak 9 is meenten a closed Veni-cel reservoir 11 in which are arranged two vertical tufbes 13 and 14 (Fig. 9) which are )art of the aspiration tube 2. Thev tank 9 is lurther provided with two valves 1,5 and 16; the valve 15 is closed when the tank being empty lies in the horizontal position, the closing taking place when the tube of the valve 1-5 comes into contact with a rubber washer 17 arranged to the upper part of the bracket 18.

The said valve is formed by a tube 15 which traverses completely the tank 9 and is in communication with the same by means of the cai 20. The other `valve 1G` is an ordinary liinged valve which opens only when the tank, heilig filled, rotates on its supports 10.

The pipe 2 is rotatably connected to the pipes 13 and 14 by means of the unions 19.

When the pump begins to operate, it draws air from the tank 6, and under the atmospheric pressure the upper layers (oil and water) of the water collected into the well, pass from the Vessel 6 of the loat 3, and through the ipe Zand the pipe 13 to fill the tank 9. T is tank, owing to its Pecuculiar shape will it fills up, have its cent-,e1n

of gravity displaced toward its larger end, until being completely filled, the tank rotates allowing the Huid to flow out through the valve 16 and so fall into the funnel 21 of the recuperator 22. During the empt in of the tank the valve 15 opens, estab li ing communication between .the inside of the tank and the outsideatrnosphere resulting in an interruptionof the suction of the liquid from the well.-

As soon as the tank 9 is emptied it rotates to return to its or'i ina] horizontal 16 close,and the pump draws again oil and water from 4the well. y

In this manner the` mixture can never reach the chamber of the pump, which wopksas an air pump, thus avoiding a too intnnate emulsion of the oil with the water, which would render very dillielult any separaton of the oil.V Y y e 'mixture ,of oil and water discharged from the tan `9 falls into the separator 22 `(Fig. 10). e recuperator comprises a cylindrical reservoir Within which is arranged a Siphonl shaped tube 23 open et its upper which is provided with atub-ular extension 4. overiow tube 25. .is arwfit 0% cube, resvor 221 the sie@ 26 being placed slightly above tal block, one or t Si? an the overfiow level 27 of the Siphon. The operation oi' the rccuperator is automatic and very simple. As the mixture fills the reservoir and the level oi' the niixture rises Within lt and within (he tubo 28, the mixture separates, that is to say, the water remains at the bottom and the oil rises at the surface. Bui` as the lower extremity of the Siphon reaches nearly the bottom of the reservoir, it is evident that only the water will rise within the tube 28, until, reaching thc ovcriiow level 27, the water will 'be discharged through the descending tube of the Siphon returnnrg to the well.

As the filling continues the thickness oi' the layer of the floating oil will increase until it reaches two-thirds of the total volume ol1 water and oil. At this point separation of the oil takes place on account of the specific weight between the water and the oil.

To equilibrato the weight of the water within the portion oi? lhe tube 23 comprised between the bottom of the reservoir and the overfiow level 27 it is necessary that the level of the liquid (which comprises twothirds of oil and one of water) Shall be higher to allow that such level shall reach the opening 26 of the discharge tube 25. It is evident that from this latter will fiow out only the oil, which may be filtered and collected into suitable tanks.

The water that collects in the well is thus continuously separated from the oil with which it mixes durin the cooling of the several parts of the mac inery, the water being sent through the piping of the system by means of a small pump. To prevent that the cooling Water shall carry oil with it, which would occur if the water was drawn from the surface,the suction pipe 30 of the ump is provided with a slidinglioat 31 ig. 5) which owing to its predetermined Weight dips a certain distance into the oily layer and rising and lowering with it keeps away the oil from the suction tube 30. A wire screen 32 prevents any foreign matter blocking the Furthermore tov revent any foreign .matter passing into t e water nozzles (where the coolin is done by spray) on asuitable point of t e induction pipe is couped the lterirg device (Figs. 2 and 3'). his `filter is ouble, and it is constituted by a cenral lody B4 sliding in a bore `in the cylino this cylinder are connected pipes 36 which balon to the lwater piping system. Within the b ock 36 are provlded two Yopenings 37 and B8. These openings oontainftiha filters. ,By changing theposition of olie cenl e other of 'the openings d' 38 are brou ht to coincide. with the pipes '36. The disp *acement of the block is obtained by means of :the operation, of the screws 39, and its stroke is limited by means of the screw engaging a groove formed into the block 34.

Fig. 11 shows a ate or hinged valve controllin the ow o water within the ships well. he purpose of this valve is to keep the water in the central parts of the ship. Said valves are applied to the intercommunlcation passages of the wells, on both sides of the center line of the ship, and all open toward the center of the ship and more particularly where the suction pipes of the system described are placed. The various movements of the ship allow for the opening of such valves toward the center, permitting the assage of the water but preventing it owing back from the well.

The valves may be provided with screens.

These arrangements present the advantage of keeping always a suilicient quantit of the oil and water in the central well of the ship, and also provide a greater stability of the shilp itself.

ig. 4 shows the tube which serves to indicate when the circulation of the cooling Water takes place through the entire system, 43 indicating the guides of the engine.

In Fig. 1, C indicates the engine.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

1. In a system for separating oil from the water used for cooling the several moving parts of the propulsion plant of a ship, the combination of a pump, a discharger, a separator, a fioating device, and connections to cause the mixture of oil and water to be through the oating device and sent to the u discharger and from the latter to the separator, before reaching` the pump.

3. In a system for separating oil from the Water used for cooling the several moving parts of the propulsion plant of a ship, the combination of a pump, a discharger, a separator, a oating device, and connections to cause the mixture of oil and water to be drawn through the floating device and sent to the discharger and from the latter to the separator, before reaching the pump, said separator comprisin a reservoir and an inverted V- haped tu e therein open at its upper end, and through which the Water is discharged, said separator havin an oil overflow discharge arranged at a point above the bottom thereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

NICOLA GENTILE. Witnesses:

O. Przzocono, GALLI Emmi.

copies oi' this patent may be obtained for uve cents each, by adresaing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

